TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni
announced that the former manager of the
New Africa Day Care Center was found guilty
of theft as an accomplice yesterday evening
by a Mercer County jury for diverting thousands
of dollars in state funding from the day
care center for his personal use.

According
to Director Gramiccioni, Robert Parrish,
44, of Neptune, was convicted of theft by
failure to make a required disposition of
property (3rd degree), misconduct by a corporate
official (3rd degree), and failure to file
a state income tax return for 2002 (3rd
degree). The jury verdict followed a five-day
trial before Superior Court Judge Thomas
P. Kelly in Mercer County. Deputy Attorney
General Susan Kase tried the case for the
Division of Criminal Justice.

“The
jury found that Mr. Parrish used his managerial
position at New Africa Day Care Center to
steal state funds that were intended to
provide a brighter start in life to some
of our most disadvantaged young students,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “That
is unconscionable.”

Parrish
was indicted in June 2006 along with New
Africa Day Care Center Inc., formerly located
at 372 South Orange Ave., Newark; its executive
director, Muslimah Suluki, 60, who is Parrish’s
mother; and her ex-husband, Mahdi Suluki,
66, of East Orange, who was a consultant
and board member of New Africa.

Mahdi
Suluki pleaded guilty on July 21 to a charge
of third-degree theft by deception. He admitted
that he solicited a donation of $4,785 from
a Newark business for New Africa after the
day care center went out of business and
deposited it into a bank account he controlled.
Under the plea agreement, the state will
recommend that he receive a four-year state
prison sentence.

The
charges remain pending against Muslimah
Suluki, a fugitive whose last known residence
was in College Park, Ga. The indictment
charged that between January 2001 and March
2004, when New Africa closed, the defendants
took more than $200,000 in state funds that
were dedicated for day care and preschool
programs and used them for personal expenditures,
including, among other things, purchases
of two Jaguars for Muslimah and Mahdi Suluki,
and vacations in Chicago and Hyannis Port,
Mass. Parrish – allegedly in concert
with Muslimah Suluki – diverted funding
from the non-profit New Africa Day Care
Center to a for-profit day care center they
ran in Neptune called Aziz Learning Center,
from which they withdrew profits.

The
case was investigated by the Division of
Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau and the
Division of Taxation Office of Criminal
Investigation. The investigation started
when the Department of Education discovered
questionable expenditures and reported them
to the Attorney General’s Office.
The Department of Education provided administrative
resources and investigative assistance to
the Division of Criminal Justice throughout
the investigation.

In
addition to federal funds, New Africa received
Abbott pre-school funding from the New Jersey
Department of Education and day care funding
from the state Department of Human Services.
New Africa, which typically had an enrollment
of about 45 children, received more than
$1.8 million in public funding during the
years it operated.

“A
major DOE priority over the past five years
has been improving the quality of our preschool
programs while increasing the level of accountability
that we expect from vendors and districts.
Our Office of Fiscal Accountability and
Compliance has an entire unit dedicated
to these reviews, and it was an OFAC report
that launched this case,” Education
Commissioner Lucille E. Davy said. “This
conviction sends a clear message that the
people of this state will not tolerate the
misuse of public funds and that we will
be relentless in our efforts to root out
this kind of behavior.”

“We
will continue to work hand in hand with
other agencies to investigate suspected
abuse and theft involving government programs
and funding,” said Criminal Justice
Director Gramiccioni. “Where we find
evidence of crimes, we will prosecute them
to the full extent of the law.”

Crimes
of the third degree carry a maximum sentence
of five years in state prison and a criminal
fine of $15,000.

Judge
Kelly scheduled sentencing for Parrish for
Oct. 21.

The
charges pending against Muslimah Suluki
are merely accusations and she is presumed
innocent until proven guilty.

The
investigation was conducted by State Investigator
Wayne Cummings and Detective Lee Bailey
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau and Tax Investigator Bruce Stuck
of the New Jersey Division of Taxation Office
of Criminal Investigation.